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A report out yesterday in the Oregon Capital Chronicle reveals that an extremist anti-abortion group is pouring thousands of dollars into OR-04 and OR-05 to boost Alek Skarlatos and Lori Chavez-DeRemer – two anti-choice Republicans who have recently been caught lying about their extreme positions on abortion. That same group did not spend money on behalf of notorious anti-choice Republican Mike Erickson (OR-06), who reportedly paid for a girlfriend’s abortion and lied about it.
The report found that:
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Like Republicans around the country, Skarlatos and Chavez-DeRemer have sought to distance themselves from abortion politics since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer;
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Despite Skarlatos and Chavez-DeRemer distancing themselves from anti-abortion talking points, the National Right to Life Victory Fund is still supporting their campaigns;
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And these anti-abortion groups have not supported Erickson [whose] last congressional run in 2008 imploded after revelations that he had paid for a girlfriend’s abortion.
DCCC Spokesperson Teddy Lake:
“Oregon Republicans may have switched up their talking points, but the fact that a group that wants to ban abortion nationwide is supporting them speaks volumes. They can’t be trusted to protect reproductive freedom.”
Read more below:
Oregon Capital Chronicle: Candidates raise big sums in Oregon’s competitive congressional races
By Julia Shumway | October 18, 2022
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The new fundraising numbers arrived as candidates and their supporters are making their last push to reach voters before ballots begin arriving in mailboxes this week. Over the past week, an anti-abortion groups spent $17,000 to promote Skarlatos and 5th District Republican nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and a group ran surveys targeting Hoyle and Salinas.
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Hoyle has raised almost $2 million, including more than $600,000 in contributions from other members of Congress and Democratic political action committees. She has less than $250,000 to spend.
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McLeod-Skinner, an attorney from Terrebonne who unseated Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, in the May primary, has raised more than $2.7 million for her campaign, almost entirely from individual donors. More than $880,000 came from people who contributed $200 or less. She has more than $660,000 available in cash.
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And Salinas, a state representative, raised a total of $2.3 million for her campaign and has just over $206,000 available for the rest of the campaign.
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Skarlatos boasted of his support from Oregon Right to Life and its national affiliate in his 2020 challenge to Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon. A DeFazio campaign ad featured footage of Skarlatos saying the U.S. Supreme Court should try to overturn Roe and that he opposed federal funding for Planned Parenthood. This year, Skarlatos told The Oregonian that abortion was a “sensitive issue” best left to the states.
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Chavez-DeRemer told the Salem Statesman-Journal in May that she supported so-called “heartbeat bills” that ban abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy or two weeks after a woman’s first missed period. Earlier this month, she told Portland-based TV station KGW that she didn’t support any federal restrictions on abortion.
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Despite Skarlatos and Chavez-DeRemer distancing themselves from anti-abortion talking points, the National Right to Life Victory Fund is still supporting their campaigns. The PAC last week reported spending nearly $9,500 on mailers for Chavez-DeRemer and more than $8,000 on mailers for Skarlatos.
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